Title: The Last Laugh
Author: Lynn Freed
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Humor
Number of Pages: 188
My Rating: 💋💋
Book Summary:
To escape their grown children, ex-husbands, ex-lovers, and an abundance of grandchildren, three self-proclaimed “old bags” head for a quiet Greek island to find some peace. There they will spend a lovely year on the Aegean, they think – watching the sunset, feasting on grilled fish and fresh olives, sipping ouzo. Peace at last.
Except that it isn’t. For one thing, Bess, a fading heiress, falls swiftly into an affair with a poetry-writing taxi driver – who has, of course, a formidable wife. Dania, a therapist, keeps receiving menacing phone calls from a psychotic patient. And Ruth’s ex-lover shows up unexpectedly, just as she’s taken up with Bess’s ex-lover. When the children and grandchildren start showing up, the serene year devolves quickly into something much more uproarious.
My Thoughts:
When I initially purchased this book and read the “blurb” or description of the novel, it sounded intriguing. Three older women running off to Greece for a year to essentially escape their every day. Something I dream of doing in my elderly years, though I will be taking my husband with me in my dreams.
However, it was…..bitter with very few speckles of actual humor sprinkled in. It was definitely a dryer, darker humor, which I tend to enjoy. But really there is no saving grace for how unpleasant and self-centered these women are.
Bess, Ruthi and Dania all disliked their children in one way or another, they all discussed failed relationships or ex-lovers and just ultimately seemed miserable. Their children were no better to be honest – rude, blunt, spoiled and bratty. That’s the best way to describe them, but children learn from example. In fiction and in reality, just sayin’!
Also the response to the “climactic” event was extremely lack-luster and non-nonchalant from all of them. And the outcome was not realistic in my humble opinion.
I didn’t particularly enjoy the writing style either. I felt like you were always kind of caught in the middle of the next conversation. It was annoying in a way.
What I thought would be a sweet story about older women enjoying a year in Greece with incredible food, romance and fun adventures – really wasn’t that at all. I breezed through the book and finished it- surprisingly, but I wouldn’t recommend. Which is sad because I really had high hopes for this.
Onto the next!
Now I know I had mentioned A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, but I am going to put that on hold for a brief moment. Only because it’s spooky season and I’m more inclined to read horror and seasonal romances during this time.
For my first novel I’ve chosen The Haunting by Natasha Preston. I’ve read The Island by Natasha and I enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to this one. Not going to lie, I’ve already started it and liking it. Think cheesy teen slasher.
Hope you enjoyed and keep an eye out for the next review.
Ciao!
Mama on the Move 
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